ONAK: the origami foldable canoe

€235,230

275

Stretch goal!

when we reach €200 000 in this campaign we will be able to upgrade all suitcase lids to a cushioned material so they can fold-out and double as a sitting mat or mat for the kneel paddlers under us.

Enjoy the small(er) things

ONAK is the perfect fit for the wild outdoors and a new way to escape the daily grind. Explore the hidden corners of your local canals and rivers with our new, beautifully designed origami canoe. A good conventional canoe requires a big budget and, most of all, lots of storage place. ONAK brings you the performance of a top quality canoe without any of that hassle.

Awards

New possibilities

Paddling with the flow of a stream is an amazing feeling. However, you usually end your journey in a different location. ONAK solves this issue by being foldable: stash it in the trunk of your car, carry it around with public transport, allowing for less planning than ever. A real adventure.

Have quality time together

Canoeing with ONAK is most fun when done together. You can steer the canoe from the back while your partner enjoys a carefree experience. Can you think of a better way to spend your free time?

As seen on

Material

Instead of designing around the limits of existing materials, we developed our own: it is durable and flexible enough to be folded and unfolded multiple thousands of times. Our patent pending Honeycomb - Curv™ Polypropylene material became the backbone of our innovation. Aside from being extremely tough and fully recyclable, it allowed us to design a stiff canoe almost entirely in one piece, with very few other parts required. Honeycomb air cells give it so much additional buoyancy that it even stays afloat when entirely flooded with water.

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Design

By making hundreds of paper models and fifteen real prototypes, we also refined the design of our patent pending hull. This was a huge challenge due to the limitations of origami. We opted for a narrow and fast canoe design that keeps its momentum very well, while still being delightfully easy and stable to maneuver for beginners.

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Pledge overview

Everybody ambassador

Every canoe backer receives a personal sticker with a url on their canoe. This gives them access to the ONAK ambassador system.

Specifications

canoe:

465 cm (183”) x 85 cm (33.5”).

200 kg (441 lbs) to 250 kg (551 lbs) capacity.

case on wheels:

40 cm (16") x 120 cm (48") x 25 cm (10").

17 kg (27 lbs) weight.

Everything fits inside the case on wheels, including 2 paddles with even some room left.

Why do we need your support?

Our foldable canoe is already a remarkable product. With your help we can improve it even further. We’ll use your investment to automate and perfect the production process, so that our canoes will be even easier and faster to assemble.

ONAK’s composite hull material will be produced in Germany and Belgium. We are cooperating closely with our partners Econcore and Propex Curv™, professionals experienced in producing large volumes with outstanding quality. Larger quantities means less cost per unit, meaning we can keep the final price lower the more canoes are ordered.

The pressing of the hulls and the end assembly of our canoes will be done Europe, so we can apply our quality standards more effectively. The pressing will be done on a huge, custom made heated press. This investment is the main reason we decided to go through Kickstarter.

Producing in decent quantities will also allow us to develop custom hardware (small parts) that will further improve the assembly and working of the canoe. After this campaign, our founder and designer Otto will spend his time with our oversea production partners to fine tune the design and supervise production until the first batches are shipped.

Risks and challenges

To limit the chance of unforeseen technical problems as much as possible we have created more than 15 prototypes and tested them in different kinds of circumstances over the last 3 years. Aside from these empirical tests we also did countless simulations on individual parts. Over the past months we paddled through ice and took the canoe on a trip through Europe where it was also tested in rough waters. All materials have been chosen with durability in mind and it shows.

Always looking for perfection we will also work on a perfect finish for the edges which look a bit rough on the prototypes. Basically, we will continue to test and improve our design until your ONAK is delivered.

Today we are ready to produce in small quantities on a one-by-one basis, but we expect (hope) to sell a lot. This means we need to buy a huge specialized press that will be placed with our production partner in the Netherlands. Getting this behemoth press to work properly is our biggest challenge, due to its sheer size. But hey, we engineers actually look forward to working with this baby!